Names of the Teeth 53 



in mares, but are usually small and not well developed. 

 In a complete set of teeth, the mare has thirty -six, and 

 the horse forty. Small, extra molars are sometimes 

 found in front of the first molars on the upper jaw, 

 (rarely on the lower), commonly called "wolf teeth." 



The molar teeth are distinguished by numbering 

 them from before backwards, and by using the terms 

 right and left, — as, the third right upper molar. The 

 incisor teeth are named according to their position: the 

 two teeth occupying the middle are called the central 

 incisors ; one on either side of these is called a lateral 

 incisor; the two outer ones, one on either side, are 

 called the corner incisors. 



A horse has two sets of teeth. The temporary, or 

 "milk" set, twenty-four in number, consists of twelve 

 incisors and twelve molars. There are three incisors 

 and three molars in each half of each jaw. These dif- 

 fer from the permanent set described above by being 

 smaller, whiter, and having a well-defined constriction, 

 or neck, at the gum. 



The temporary teeth in colts are erupted, or "cut ," as 

 follows: At birth a colt has three temporary molars on 

 each jaw and the two central incisors or "nippers." 

 They may be covered by thin skin, which breaks within 

 a day or two. The lateral incisors on both jaws are 

 erupted at four to six weeks, and the corner incisors 

 at six to ten months. Thus, at one year old the colt 

 has a full set of twenty -four temporary teeth. 



The temporary incisors are replaced by permanent 

 teeth, as follows: The two central incisors are shed at 

 about two and a half years, and the permanent ones 



